52. War Against Crime (1)
“Hwaaam.”
Baek Ajin had just finished patrolling the marketplace and was on her way to meet up with her friends.
She had gone through quite a bit of trouble to obtain 13 Omnipotent Runes, so she had even given all the staff under her charge some time off.
Vroooom!
As she pressed down on the accelerator, the turbo engine let out a thunderous roar.
Since Samseong-dong was quite far from headquarters, she had recently bought herself a car.
A bright red Porsche 911 Turbo.
Baek Ajin simply could not resist its beautiful curves, the kind that could stir a woman’s heart at a glance.
In truth, compared to her income, it was a fairly cheap car. After all, it only cost a little over 300 million won.
Near Hanam City.
At a secluded private café.
The friends gathered there were in absolute uproar.
She wasn’t some chaebol, so what was a woman in her early twenties doing with a 911?!
“Wow, what is this?”
“B-Baek Ajiiiin! This is seriously insane! As expected, elite chaebol connections are on a whole different level!”
“Can I take a picture?”
“I want to ride in the passenger seat later!”
Some simply admired it with pure excitement.
“What do you even do these days?”
“Exactly. You used to be in the group chat all the time, but lately you’ve been so busy you don’t even talk.”
“Stop hiding it already and tell us!”
Others were curious about what Baek Ajin had been up to lately.
“Well.”
Baek Ajin decided to speak honestly.
They had already come to an agreement.
Now that her whole family had entered Yoobaek’s embrace, there was no longer any need to hide it.
She could reveal it proudly.
“I work at Yoobaek these days.”
“What?”
“Y-Yoobaaaaaek?!”
Her friends shrieked in shock.
What kind of place was Yoobaek?
Wasn’t it that hot new management company said to offer even better treatment than Korea’s top corporation, Daeseong?
On top of that, it was the management company taking care of national representative Baek Jinwoo!
Now, elites from all over the country longed to get into that place.
“The Yoobaek I know?”
“I knew it! Yoo Jia’s connections weren’t just for show!”
“Then have you seen Baek Jinwoo? What’s he like? Is he handsome?”
At that last question, Baek Ajin frowned.
What do you mean handsome?
His body had gotten a bit sturdier lately, sure, but her brother was still her brother.
The word “handsome” felt slightly off-putting to her.
Of course, her friends didn’t see it that way.
“Here, my business card.”
What was the point of explaining it all with words?
Baek Ajin handed out the business cards she had received from Yoobaek.
“Wow, what kind of business card is this?”
“…Gold? Is this real gold?”
“No way…”
Plastic material, with the name engraved in pure gold.
It was a business card they had told her not to hand out carelessly, but only to truly precious friends.
And on that card, the title and name were clearly engraved: [Director, Baek Ajin]
“D-Director?”
“Huh? Am I seeing things? That can’t be right.”
“Not an employee, but a director?”
“Did Yoobaek even have directors?”
Startled, her friends each pulled out their phones.
They went to Yoobaek’s official homepage to check the current board structure.
“No way!”
“It’s real?”
“There are only two of them?”
[CEO, Yoo Jia]
[Director, Baek Ajin]
“How in the world did this happen?”
Her friends demanded an explanation.
Right.
She had come to this gathering planning to tell them anyway.
If she kept going like this, it would only lead to bigger misunderstandings, and that in itself would be unfair to her friends.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you until now. Actually… Baek Jinwoo is my brother.”
A shocking revelation!
Every one of her friends’ jaws dropped open.
“Whaaaaaat?!”
“Really?”
“Baek Jinwoo? That national hero Baek Jinwoo is your brother? Not some other Baek Jinwoo with the same name, right?”
Honestly, that one sentence explained everything.
The flashy sports car. Her connection to Yoo Jia. Even her position as a director at “Yoobaek”.
‘That’s not even gold-spoon level… that’s Baek Jinwoo-spoon level.’
‘I-I’m so jealous.’
But wasn’t Ajin’s brother bedridden after a car accident or something?
It took them quite a while to accept and process reality.
A brief silence passed.
And then Baek Ajin became the center of every conversation. How could they possibly have only one or two questions?
Some of her prettier friends even started acting coy.
“Miss! Our pretty Miss Baek Ajin!”
“What are you talking about? She’s my miss, okay? Ajin, let me become your sister-in-law! This sister-in-law will be good to you, okay?”
Half joking, half serious, they even started flirting outrageously.
‘Ugh, what is wrong with these girls? Have they lost their minds?’
Baek Ajin herself waved her hands in horror.
Still…
Judging by how proudly her shoulders were rising…it did feel pretty good.
‘So this was the kind of feeling you got from having an amazing older brother!’
* * *
And at that same moment—
“So that’s the place we hit, right?”
“And the moment we join the gang, they’ll wire us 100 billion won in cash?”
Outside the private café in Hanam City.
Three players could be seen staring at the building.
One was a gang member.
The other two were ranked 9th and 10th: O Ji-myeong and Park Ho-seop.
“That is correct, Rankers. If you kidnap only Baek Ajin in there, they have promised not only 100 billion won, but also 10% of all future profits that come through Baek Jinwoo.”
The gang’s demand was simple.
Kidnap Baek Ajin.
After that, leave the country and simply keep hold of her identity.
‘To become enemies with Baek Jinwoo…’
Maybe that would actually be better.
After a long period of deliberation, the two Rankers had accepted the offer.
There had also been the option of going to Baek Jinwoo and apologizing, but they had their pride.
‘This way seems easier.’
‘Nice. Kidnap his family and threaten him. Why didn’t I think of that before?’
‘I need to repay the debt for that hit I took.’
His ribs still throbbed.
It was because of the liver blow he had taken during the multiplayer match.
“Then what about the others besides Baek Ajin? There seem to be quite a lot of them.”
When O Ji-myeong asked that—
“You may kill them all.”
It was when the gang member replied with a nasty grin.
“Wait.”
Rank 10, Park Ho-seop, asked a question.
“Then while we’re capturing Baek Ajin, what exactly will your gang be doing?”
It was quite a sharp question.
Were they just going to issue orders from behind the scenes, then pull out if things went badly, leaving only the two of them branded as traitors who had dared lay hands on the national hero?
“Do not worry. The gang is staking everything on this operation as well. Most of the members dispatched overseas have already smuggled themselves back into the country.”
“Oh? Then?”
“Yes. Baek Jinwoo’s family doesn’t consist of only his younger sister, does it?”
“The gang is planning to strike Yoobaek?”
“Exactly.”
That was the gang’s goal.
At Yoobaek were Baek Jinwoo’s family members, including Yoo Jia. And on top of that, Baek Jinwoo was currently dispatched to Dubai.
It was the perfect opportunity.
If Baek Jinwoo were the sort of cold-blooded man who cared nothing for the safety of his family, then this operation would be meaningless.
But judging from the way he had acted, that seemed unlikely.
He’s the kind of person who buys houses for his family and cares about their security.
Touching Yoo Jia did mean making an enemy of Daeseong, which bothered them a bit, but there was no helping it.
From the gang’s perspective, leaving Baek Jinwoo alone as he was would be an even bigger headache.
“Good.”
O Ji-myeong nodded.
“Then let’s begin right away.”
* * *
For five hours straight, Baek Jinwoo did not eat a single bite of food, nor drink even a sip of water.
Whiirrrr! Whiirrrr! Whiirrrr!
Lamba was busy stacking stacks, while Explosive Dragon sat quietly at his side.
And then—
—Krrrgh…!
Together with Gale Slayer, who stood guard around them holding a scythe, he simply waited for HunGyo.
Soon, when the resummon cooldown ended—
Wooooong!
Baek Jinwoo flicked his hand and summoned HunGyo.
“HunGyo.”
Swish!
HunGyo appeared in a flash of light, looking completely fine.
And at the same time, his whole aura had changed from before.
[“Training Instructor” (EX-grade) unlocks its latent abilities.]
[“Training Instructor” (EX-grade)’s base stats increase.]
[“Training Instructor” (EX-grade) gains a new skill.]
Step.
The one who approached dropped to one knee.
—My lord… I am sorry for causing you concern.
“What concern? What happened?”
When Baek Jinwoo asked, the corners of HunGyo’s mouth lifted slightly.
—It was a complete success. I can feel tremendous internal energy inside my body.
“Really?”
Baek Jinwoo immediately checked his status.
[Summon: Training Instructor]
[Race: Human]
[Grade: EX-grade (Isolated)]
Isolated due to the discovery of balance-breaking factors in certain situations.
[Level: 40]
[Stats]
Strength: 100, Intelligence: 100, Stamina: 100, Agility: 100
HP: 50,000, MP: 50,000
Critical Chance: 20%
Critical Damage: 100%
[Skills]
-Growth: Grows through training.
-Charisma: Overwhelms other summons.
-Instructor: Unlocks the latent abilities of other summons and amplifies their growth speed.
-Resonance Demonic Art: Controls energy at the cost of one’s life.
-Rebirth: With immense inner power as its foundation, his body has been transformed into one suited for mastering martial arts.
‘W-What the…!’
Baek Jinwoo was stunned.
On top of Resonance Demonic Art, he had even gained Rebirth?
And those stats were completely insane. For reference, that was his capability without even equipping a single rune.
“You little punk!”
You really did change completely!
At this level, it would not be strange even if someone called those the stats of an A-grade summon—or no, even an S-grade summon.
“Wait a second.”
Baek Jinwoo removed the Omnipotent Rune that had been equipped to Explosive Dragon and immediately equipped it to HunGyo.
Then—
[Summon: Training Instructor]
[Race: Human]
[Grade: EX-grade (Isolated)]
Isolated due to the discovery of balance-breaking factors in certain situations.
[Level: 40]
[Stats]
Strength: 1,580, Intelligence: 1,580, Stamina: 1,580, Agility: 1,580
HP: 60,000, MP: 50,000
Critical Chance: 80%
Critical Damage: 340%
[Skills]
-Growth: Grows through training.
-Charisma: Overwhelms other summons.
-Instructor: Unlocks the latent abilities of other summons and amplifies their growth speed.
-Resonance Demonic Art: Controls energy at the cost of one’s life.
-Rebirth: With immense inner power as its foundation, his body has been transformed into one suited for mastering martial arts.
No, what…
What kind of monster is this?
Stats of 1,580?
Baek Jinwoo had never imagined he would ever see numbers like that on HunGyo.
And for reference, this was only with a semi-endgame rune.
If he later equipped a Trinity Rune? He would become even stronger than this.
—My lord, I can feel such overwhelming might that it seems I could blow away an entire mountain with a single sword strike.
A mountain is the issue?
If he really set his mind to it, he could probably reduce an entire city to ruins in less than a minute.
“No, is the Nine Yin Severed Meridian really that absurd?”
—It is. Hua Tuo’s knowledge even spoke of eccentrics who considered humans afflicted with the Nine Yin Severed Meridian to be peerless elixirs of the ages.
“Yeah, I’ll admit it.”
Baek Jinwoo nodded.
“This Omnipotent Rune. And the Trinity Rune we’ll obtain later. They don’t belong to Aso. They’re yours first.”
At those words, life filled HunGyo’s eyes.
—Thank you, my lord!
He had been acknowledged.
He had been promised one of the main positions as the blade of his lord.
HunGyo was so happy that all the pain he had endured until now seemed to vanish from his mind.
“Hoo.”
Baek Jinwoo let out a joyful breath. Everything had worked out well.
He had obtained the Omnipotent Rune, and the Instructor had awakened as well.
Now it was time to return to Korea.
Jasim had probably already prepared all the flight arrangements.
The problem was—
Grrrrr.
“Haha, I’m hungry.”
—My lord, surely… you have not gone without eating all this time?
“When you got reverse-summoned in that condition, did you think food was going to go down my throat?”
Ugh.
Even saying it out loud made him cringe.
But what could he do?
That was genuinely how he felt.
“Anyway, let’s eat. Explosive Dragon too, and Lamba too.”
There was still the feast Jasim had prepared for them.
Enough food for even four of them to eat their fill!
Naturally, it also included ultra-luxurious cream bread made by a professional chef.
—Nice! Let’s eaaaat!
An excited Lamba flew around in the air.
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